Later that night, I stood in front of my large wall mirror, tying up my wet hair into a messy bun. After slipping off my fuzzy warm grey housecoat, I got out the body lotion I made in class from my satchel, opened the plastic bag and started to rub it onto my bare skin.
I rubbed the lotion onto my arms, legs, neck and my face, smoothly spreading it around on the surface. Once I've finished, I tightly sealed the bag and placed it on my nightstand, before crawling into my comfy bed. I let my heavy eyelids close and fell asleep, without any trouble.
When I woke up the next morning, I stood up from my messy bed and stood in front of my wall mirror, shaking off my sleepiness. As I made my bed, I started to feel a bit weird.
Maybe I'm on my period, I thought before I turned to the mirror and realized how wrong I was.
Poking out of my chaotic hair, was two fire orange furry fox ears. My eyes widened as I slowly reached up and the soft fur with my fingers.
"Oh my gosh, how the hel-".
Before I could finish my sentence, a swift fire orange fox tail swung out from behind me and knocked a picture frame off my nightstand, plummeting down towards the hard wooden grey floor. Reacting quickly, I caught the frame with one hand before the glass pane could shatter.
That was close.
I set the frame back on the nightstand, staring at the photo of me and my biological mother posing in front of the massive Disney castle.
Going back to my new problem, I took a few steps back from my nightstand and puzzled about how the fox ears and tail just suddenly sprouted out of me. Then I realized, the body lotion I created at school caused me to grow the furry features. I picked up the plastic bag that is currently containing the blue lotion and stuffed it into the front pocket of my satchel, thinking about tossing it out when I get to school.
I better dispose the lotion properly in my science class; I don't want its contents leaking out when my foster parents are taking out the trash or when the garbage truck comes to collect it.
Then I pulled out my black baseball cap and set it on my head, after fixing up my hair and shoving my new ears under it. And to hide my fiery orange fox tail, I picked out a long grey cardigan that hangs halfway down to my thighs, just a few inches below my bottom. I tucked the furry tail under the cardigan and stepped out of my room, with my satchel lung on one shoulder.
When I arrived at school, I met up with Caleigh and Rachel by the business technology classroom in the basement of the school, where their lockers are. While my friends were taking off their jackets, I was busy zoning out about what happened to me this morning, not at all following their conservation.
"-still have to finish the documentary. Did you use your body lotion last night, V?" asked Rachel, shifting her gaze to the quiet girl who's staring down the vacant hallway to her right.
"Vanessa? Are you alright?".
This time, Rachel lightly tapped me on my left shoulder and I instantly snapped out of it, turning my attention back towards my wary friends.
"Yeah, I'm good," I quickly replied, putting on a fake smile on my face.
"Then why did you dye some of your hair grey at your temples?".
I looked at her in confusion.
What?
"Caleigh, what are you talking about? I didn't dye any of my hair grey at my temp-".
Before I could finish my sentence or even react, Rachel skillfully snagged the baseball cap off my head and swung open her locker door, so I could see for myself in her two-foot-long locker mirror. In the mirror, I saw grey strands of hair starting from the front of my temples and ended just behind my human ears. I was even more shocked to see that the fox ears I woke up with this morning were just suddenly gone, as if it never happened.
Caleigh and Rachel can't know how I really got this; they would freak if they knew I could grow fox ears out of my head, or a fox tail just above my bottom.
Caleigh and Rachel looked at me silently, waiting for an answer.
"I dyed some of my hair last night, just to give myself a new look" I replied, as I closed the locker door shut and shifted my gaze back to them.
"And I'm sorry for raising my voice at you, Caleigh; I've forgotten for a few moments that I dyed some pieces of my hair".
I quickly glanced down at my watch and realized it is 8:16am.
"Um, I've got to get to my classes, but I'll catch you both later".
And just like that, I dashed off to my Communications Technology class. Caleigh and Rachel exchanged glances at each other.
"Is it just me or is Vanessa acting a bit strange this morning?" spoke up Caleigh. Rachel nodded her head in agreement.
"Yeah, she is. It's not like her to spontaneously dye her hair or do anything like that without telling us first. However, she surprisingly looks good with those grey strands in her hair".